Korea Forest Service: "Employing Foreign Workers in Forestry Sites... Solving Labor Shortage in Mountain Villages"

Employment of foreign workers in forestry sites will become possible.

The Korea Forest Service announced on the 29th that next year, about 1,000 foreign workers entering with a non-professional employment (E-9) visa will be allowed to work in forestry sites.

Foreigners who have been issued a non-professional employment visa can work on-site continuously for 3 years from the date of entry, and in the case of visa extension, for an additional 1 year and 10 months.

The Foreign Workforce Policy Committee (40th session) decided that the newly permitted foreign worker employment sectors in the forestry field include ▲forestry seedling production ▲silviculture ▲logging ▲forestry-related services, and these sectors must be included in the business registration certificate.

Foreign workers as simple forestry laborers can be employed by forestry business corporations, national forest management corporations (corporations), forestry cooperatives, the Korea Forestry Cooperative Federation, lumber production corporations, and forestry seedling production corporations. Applications will start from July next year, with actual deployment to the field beginning in September.

The Korea Forest Service plans to establish a management system by the first half of next year to support the smooth settlement of foreign workers and stable operation of employers, including education and training, stay management, and designation of employment service agencies.

Nam Sung-hyun, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, said, “The employment of foreign workers in the forestry sector has been a long-standing desire of forestry business sites and is expected to contribute to alleviating labor shortages in mountain villages.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.